Nature
Throughout his poetic career, Wordsworth displayed a typically Romantic preoccupation with nature and the way that the exterior natural world reflects the emotional and subconscious human interior. "The Thorn" exemplifies this Romantic trope, as the first five stanzas of the poem are completely dedicated to vivid descriptions of the thorn, lichen, moss, pond and mountain. The thorn is shown to be "so old and grey" that the speaker can hardly imagine it young, but then describes its likeness to the height of a two-year-old child. Following this description, the narrator deems it a "wretched thing." These descriptions are then mirrored in the character of Martha Ray, who is introduced with the same adjective used to describe the thorn: "wretched woman." The alliteration highlights the significance of this adjective choice. Through these associations we can interpret Martha Ray as a personification of the thorn. Her mystique, impenetrable "woe," and confusing, twisted back story are similar to the "mass of knotted joints" and "melancholy crop" that is the thorn.
The Gothic
Wordsworth's known disdain for the gothic genre manifests in the unreliability of the poem's speaker. The speaker is fascinated by the local superstitions and gossip about Martha Ray, which twist the tragic suffering and clear mental illness of the character into a thrilling macabre folk tale. Wordsworth was revolutionary in his poetic voice through his repeated incorporation and empathetic illustration of poor and dispossessed characters. The speaker in "The Thorn," as Wordsworth explains in his note to the poem, is a "sufficiently common" man subject to belief in superstition, and therefore he allows his imagination to run wild, clouding more informed perception and empathy. We see how the superstition of the speaker affects his judgment and treatment of Martha Ray; in stanzas 13 and 14, he finds her crouching in horrendous weather and does not console the crying woman. Instead, he regards her like a grisly curiosity. The speaker's first descriptions of Martha are almost supernatural and draw heavily from witch imagery. Near the poem's end, he reflects that local tales of infanticide are likely untrue, but the lack of sympathy he shows during his encounter and the sensationalist manner in which he and Wilfred discuss the sick woman heavily suggest unreliability and Wordsworth's criticism of what he felt to be the emotionally vacuous thrill of the Gothic genre.
Children
Children and infants are used as similes to describe the strange nature of the thorn and its accompanying heap of moss—the latter functioning as a supposed burial ground for Martha Ray's dead child in the local tales. The "scarlet moss" is said to be colored with the infant's blood, the "beauteous heap" is the size of an "infant's grave," the thorn stands at the height of a two-year-old child, and the mountain is even said to shake when disturbed by the locals, as if haunted and possessed by the ghost of the infant. Wordsworth held the romantic notion that the child was the purest and freest form of the human being: a state that is sadly lost in adulthood. He is quoted as saying, "Child is the father of man." The impenetrability of the thorn can be seen as the adult inability to reclaim jovial youth. As the speaker says, you could hardly imagine the thorn to be so young. The woeful Martha Ray symbolizes the adult separated from childlike innocence, stranded in a perpetually harsh, barren, and stormy environment. The rough nature throughout the poem suggests that the season is possibly autumn or winter, again referring to the latter years of a human's life as spring and summer are common metaphors for youth.
Weather
The pathetic fallacy—ascribing emotion to non-human nature—is abundant throughout this poem. The stormy weather provides a clear mirror to Martha Ray's mystery, chaotic life, and emotional anguish. She is shown to be deeply connected to the weather, as lines describing the "whirlwinds on the hill" or "the little breezes" that shake the pond are immediately followed with Martha's cries of "Oh misery! Oh misery!" This suggests a sense that the weather is powered by her woe or vice versa, as each powerful rush of wind and rain occurs simultaneously with a rush of emotion from the character. The treacherous weather also assists in setting the Gothic-influenced and deeply melancholic tone of the poem.
Death
Death is a prominent theme in the poem. It is explored through the bare winter landscape, where the only life to be seen is the rugged and gray lichen, thorns, and moss. The references to potential miscarriage, stillborn state, or infanticide also provide a grisly focus on death. The poem seeks to illustrate death with the forlorn beauty of the thorn and Martha Ray's descriptions. It is something that is watched upon by the villagers from afar—similar to how we as humans are unable to properly comprehend death until we are face to face with it. In the end, the speaker suggests that the local tales are mere superstitions, creating some distance from this morbid fascination and respecting the melancholy reality of Martha Ray's story.
